


You're feeding on my loneliness

by havisham



Category: Boardwalk Empire
Genre: M/M, Manpain, angst for no reason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-11
Updated: 2011-10-11
Packaged: 2017-10-24 12:52:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/263667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This didn't happen, nothing like it ever did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're feeding on my loneliness

Richard doesn’t know how much Jimmy knows. The man’s opaque, yes, that’s the word for it,  _opaque_ , smoke-blue eyes half-hooded with sleep, sharp white teeth biting into full lips, flush with blood. There’s a sharp sour smell of old sweat, and his hair, the color of forgotten treasure, is plastered close to his skull. He looks like a illustration, a picture-book angel, torn out and ground into the dirt. 

 _An angel brought low, an angel brought below._

It's an odd sort of chant, but it suits.

Jimmy is headed down below, just like Richard.

Jimmy belongs there, just like Richard.  

He knows.

And everyone else would know it too, except Jimmy's mask can't be pulled off as easily as his own could be.

*

Richard doesn’t touch Jimmy, not without permission. He never would.

But Jimmy’s waking now, making angry sounds under his breath, and his breathing is the loudest thing in the room, besides the tickling clock.

He turns to Richard, focuses his attention on him, silently assessing him.  Richard can never tell what Jimmy’s thinking,  _or even if he is thinking_ , but there are times, rare times, when they are able to share a moment of complete understanding.

Jimmy beckons, and _yes_ , they are in perfect accord.

*

It’s over too quickly, and Richard swallows hard. He pushes disappointment aside, he's an expert at doing that. 

He feels the cool air rattling around in his lungs. He feels it as Jimmy twists away.

Jimmy’s voice is smooth and practised, devoid of all emotion. “I need you to do this for me. Just one thing.”

 _Bang bang, you’re dead._

  
  
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_   
  


**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Castaways and Cutouts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4232103) by [Suzume](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzume/pseuds/Suzume)




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